Fidelity Investments

An analyst recommends against buying the NEOS Nasdaq 100 High Income ETF (QQQI), citing excessive valuation risk and structural limitations of covered call ETFs during market corrections. With a ceasefire in Iran creating temporary market euphoria, QQQI has rallied 3% but faces downside exposure if geopolitical tensions resume or a tech correction occurs. The analyst suggests JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPI) as a safer alternative for income-focused investors.

Two leveraged MicroStrategy ETFs, MSTX and MSTU, both promising 2x daily exposure to MSTR, have delivered nearly identical catastrophic losses of 95%+ over the past year, compared to MSTR's 67% decline. The underperformance stems from daily reset mechanics and volatility decay, compounded by structural capacity limits that forced both sponsors to shift from swaps to options as the funds grew. In December 2025 alone, the pair shed roughly $1.5 billion in retail capital, falling from $2.3 billion in assets to $830 million.

Clean energy ETFs have surged over 25 percent in 2026, with the Invesco Solar ETF up 28 percent year-to-date and the Invesco WilderHill Clean Energy ETF up 31 percent. Unlike prior policy-driven rallies, this run is being driven by structural factors: AI-driven data center demand that utilities cannot meet without renewables, solar's cost competitiveness at $39 per megawatt-hour, and a domestic US manufacturing base protected by tariffs on Chinese modules. The backdrop matters because clean energy funds lost 45 percent cumulatively from 2022 to 2024, making this recovery from deeply depressed valuations.